


What Home Could Be

by TheOrchid (loveoftheimpossible)



Category: Lost
Genre: 1980s, First Kiss, M/M, Melancholy, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-10-14 04:32:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10529022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveoftheimpossible/pseuds/TheOrchid
Summary: Written for a prompt on Tumblr: Ben/Richard & 'things you said after you kissed me.'





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a prompt on Tumblr: Ben/Richard & 'things you said after you kissed me.'

When they broke apart, they stared at each other silently, processing how they arrived to this exact moment.

The makeshift crib was set up in the corner, stolen baby fast asleep within, as if she had no clue the new trajectory her life was on. Ben was overwhelmed, too much responsibility all at once, a life to watch over. He couldn’t remember the last time he had cared about anyone besides himself. Perhaps Annie, before she went away, the doll she had made gathering dust on his bedroom shelf. He knew she would’ve left anyway, even if the evacuation never happened; he knew it was for the best.

Richard never faltered – he was a constant in his memory, an unaltered creature from his past, his present, and, undoubtedly, his future. Ben had never dared to ask how old he was, or how he had managed to not age a day since they had met all those years ago – something in him told him he might not like the answer. To ask would break the illusion, and he couldn’t risk losing him as well.

He heard Alex stir in her sleep. She was the reason Richard was here, in Ben’s old house, the place where he grew up and grew to hate. He never had considered it home, not when he dreaded going there day after day, but with Alex and Richard there he was beginning to see what he’d always heard people talk about when they said the word.

Richard had sided with Ben’s decision not to kill the girl, and had offered to assist in his transition from quiet loner to family man. Something deep in Richard’s eyes had looked melancholy as he watched Ben cradle the infant in a clean blanket, but neither of them had mentioned it. After a busy two hours, they had managed to get together a baby base of operations, so to speak, in a small section of the living room and put Alex down to sleep.

At some point, the quiet became unbearable and Richard cleared his throat slightly. ‘Isabella had always wanted to start a family.’

Ben nodded, giving him a small comforting look. He had never heard the name before, but he saw the way Richard clutched at the cross around his neck some days and needed no explanation. ‘I’m sorry.’

'Don’t be,’ Richard answered, looking distant. ‘She’s been gone for a long time.’

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on [Tumblr](https://haroldwrens.tumblr.com/post/159127732965/things-you-said-after-you-kissed-me-bichard).


End file.
